Safety lamp bulb guard



Oct. 4, 1955 L. P. MORRISON SAFETY LAMP BULB GUARD Filed Dec. 8, 1952 LemueZ PM? rison ijTTORNEY United States Patent SAFETY LAMP BULB GUARD Lemuel P. Morrison, Hammond, Ind.

Application December 8, 1952, Serial No. 324,639

2 Claims. (Cl. 24054) This invention relates to a safety guard for lamp bulbs and more particularly to lamp bulbs used with a drop cord as conventionally employed in ship building, shop and tank work, and in other forms of construction.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a safety guard which will effectively prevent breakage of the globe or bulb of an incandescent lamp, which will not interfere with the emission of light rays from the lamp and which is itself spatter-proof, shatter-proof and substantially nonbreakable and therefore capable of withstanding relatively rough treatment and while protecting a lamp enclosed thereby.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lamp guard which will prevent much time lost in construction work occurring through breakage of lamp bulbs of drop cords frequently resulting in short circuits and often causing long delays in work due to a lack of illumination, and which additionally will eliminate the risk of workers being seriously shocked or even electrocuted as a result of a lamp bulb breakage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a guard of extremely simple construction composed of a minimum number of parts which may be very economically manufactured and sold, which may be quickly and easily applied to the lamb bulb and socket of a drop cord, which will last almost indefinitely due to a substantially nonbreakable construction, yet which may be readily dismantled for replacement of a lamp bulb.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing the lamp guard in an applied position;

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view thereof taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a plan view looking toward the inner side of one section of the bulb portion of the guard;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 55 of Figure 3, and

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 6-6 of Figure 1.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the safety lamp guard in its entirety is designated generally 8 and comprises a hook 9, a socket enclosing cap 10 and a hollow shield or guard, designated generally 11, formed of a male section 12 and a female section 13. The parts 10 and 11 are preferably formed of clear or transparent plastic which is spatter-proof, shatter-proof and substantially nonbreakable.

The hollow shield or protector 11 is of a size and shape to loosely enclose a globe or bulb 14 of an incandescent lamp 15 the base, not shown, of which is secured in a 1 ice conventional manner in a weatherproof socket 16 attached to one end of a drop cord, a portion of which is indicated at 17. The parts 15, 16 and 17 are of conventional construction. Accordingly, while the protector or shield 11 is illustrated as being substantially bulb shaped for loosely enclosing the bulb or globe 14 which is of substantially the same general shape, it will be obvious that the size and shape of the shield or protector 11 may be varied for accommodating the bulbs or globes of lamps of different sizes and shapes and similarly the socket shaped cap 10 may be of various sizes to accommodate lamp sockets 16 of diiferent sizes.

The bulb shaped protector 11 is divided lengthwise to form the sections 12 and 13 thereof. Said sections 12 and 13 have complementary restricted externally threaded ends 18 the thread of each of which forms a continuation of the thread of the other when the sections are assembled, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. Said restricted ends 18 are internally recessed, as seen at 19 to conformably fit around the end portion of the socket 16 from which the lamp 15 projects. The female section 13 is provided with a groove 20 in the edge thereof that tapers in width toward its bed and which extends from one side of the restricted end 18 around the outer opposite end of said section 13 and back to adjacent the other side edge of the restricted end 18, as best illustrated in Figure 4. The edge of the male section 12 is provided with a tongue 21 which is similarly tapered in cross section, as illustrated in Figure 6, and which extends coextensively with the groove 20 and seats in said groove when the shield sections 12 and 13 are assembled, as illustrated in Figures 1 t0 3. However, the tongue 21 has a loose fitting engagement in the groove 20, as seen in Figure 6.

The outer end of the female section 13 is provided with an integral enlargement 22 which projects across the outer end of its grooved edge and which is provided with a bore 23 extending therethrough, the inner end of which opens beyond said grooved edge, as seen in Figure 3. The outer end of the male section 12 is provided with an outwardly projecting tit 24 which fits relatively snug into the bore 23 when the protector sections 12 and 13 are assembled with the tongue 21 disposed in the groove 20. The tit 24 has a threaded recess 25 opening outwardly of the terminal thereof to receive a threaded shank end 26 of the hook 9, by means of which said hook is detachably secured to the protector 11. The hook 9 has a collar 27 at the inner end of its threaded shank which bears against the outer side of the projection 22, around the outer end of the bore 23 and by means of which the tit 24 is maintained seated in said bore 23.

The cap 10 tapers from end-to-end thereof and is provided with an end wall 28 having a relatively large opening 29 for accommodating portions of the socket 16 which extend outwardly therethrough and through which the strands of the drop cord 17 extend into said socket 16. The cap 10 is internally recessed as seen at 30 adjacent the end wall 28 to conformably accommodate an end of the socket 16 and the opposite enlarged end of said cap 10 is provided with in internally threaded recess of larger diameter, designated 31, for threadedly engaging the externally threaded restricted ends 18 of the protector sections 12 and 13. The cap 10 is applied to the drop cord 17 before the socket 16 is attached thereto or may be applied from the opposite end of the drop cord, not shown, before a plug is connected thereto. With the lamp bulb 15 applied to the socket 16, the protector sections 12 and 13 are disposed around the globe 14 and while the cap 10 is displaced upwardly from its position of Figures 1 and 3 to above the socket 16. The tit 24 is inserted into the bon -1 a th section 12 a d 71.3 r ock toward one another for seating the tongue 21 in the groove 20. As illustrated in Figures 3 and 5, the inner end of the or 12. on th outer side th r may be flared slight y o perm t sl gh ocking m v m nt of the ectio r ative y to the e ion 13 in as mb g the secion and p si ion g he tongu .21. .in he groove :20- With the parts thus disposed, the threads of the ends 18 of the se i n .12 and 13. willform a con inuou threaded portion to. be threadedly received in the ;cap Portion .31 hen aid cap. is displac d wnwad y over h o ke ;an .1 r tated .in one dire tion- Th s, the. ap ooper te with the tongue and groove ,21, 20am he. :tit .24 and bore 23 for m inta ningthe guard is assembled around the lamp bulb and socket 1.6 and or add tiona ysuppo ing he protector or sh el 11 n paced r la i nsh p. :to he. globe 1.4-, Th hreaded ho k shank 26 is threaded intozthfi re ess .25 of the tit 24 to ac h book 9 rigid y t the pr tector 11 and the collar 27 by abutting engagement with the outer side of the projection 22 additionally functions to maintain the protector sections, 12; ,and 13 assembled even if the cap 10 is detached therefrom. The protector sections 12 and 13 are provided with vent openings 32 ,to allow heat from the lamp bulb 15 to escape from the guard 8.

The drop cord to which a lamp bulb and socket are attached with the guard ,8 applied thereto may be ,hung by the book 9 on any convenient support for providing illumination where required for any work to be performed. The clear or transparent material of which the parts 10 and 11 are formed will not obstruct light rays from the light bulb 15' but will elfectively prevent breakage of the bulb should it be accidently dropped or struck against a hard object.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A lamp bulb guard comprising a lamp bulb protector fitting loosely around the globe of a lamp bulb and having a restricted open inner end portion provided with a recessed internal face conformably fitting around the end of a socket from which the lamp bulb projects, said inner end being externally threaded, a cap turnably supported on the protector and having an end wall engaging the opposite end of said socket, said cap having an internally threaded open end threadedly connected to the inner end of the protector for mounting the protector in a supported position on the socket around the lamp bulb, said protector being formed of a spatter proof, shatter-proof transparent material and comprising two half sections each extending from end-to-end thereof, said cap connecting said protector sections at the inner end of the protector, and said end Wall of the cap and a portion of said recessed internal face being drawn into clamping engagement with the socket by tightening of the cap on the threaded portion of the protector for mounting the protector immovably relative to the socket and lamp bulb.

2. A lamp bulb guard comprising a lamp bulb protector formed of a shatter-proof transparent material adapted to be disposed loosely around the globe of a lamp bulb and having a restricted open end provided with a recessed internal face conformably fitting around an annular part of a lamp socket including an outwardly tapered end thereof from which the lamp bulb projects, said restricted protector end being externally threaded, and a cap loosely engaging around the opposite end of the socket and having an internally threaded open end threadedly engaging said externally threaded end of the protector, said cap having an end wall, said end wall being displaced into abutting engagement with the last mentioned end of the socket and a portionof said recessed internal face being drawn into abutting engagement with another part of the socket when the threaded cap part is tightened on the externally threaded end of the protector for clamping the protector and cap immovably to .the socket, said protector being formed of sections each forming substantially a half of the protector and extending from end-to-end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,086,787 Rithner Feb. 10, 1914 1,753,273 Laib Apr. 8, 1930 2,157,738 Kollath May 9, 1939 2,404,753 Siemers July 23, 1946 2,514,164 Popp et a1 July 4, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 603,846 France Apr. 23, 1926 

